Barristers Block Wines — Attraction in Woodside

August 2021: I attended a 60th birthday lunch last Sunday at your winery with a group of people. I have gluten free and dairy free dietary requirements. I found the staff very obliging with regard to my dietary needs and the meals provided to me were very tasty. Thank you for the attention to detail. P.S. I came away with a purchase of six bottles of your wine.

3/4/2022: After an excellent experience last time and this time we even had two gift vouchers, last Sunday another couple, my partner and I went to this venue for lunch. The total experience was a disaster. My partner and I are gluten free and dairy free. This time the gluten free bases contained dairy. We still ordered them and decided to take a tablet to help counteract the dairy. We ordered: two meat boards, one gluten free/dairy free and one standard; two gluten free/dairy free pizzas and two standard pizzas; two desserts. We enquired about coconut cream for the fruit dessert (as we could not have the standard dessert), but were told they were out of the cream stock. We ordered drinks. The meat boards arrived, but no drinks. We enquired about when the drinks would be served. The gluten free/dairy free meat board was incomplete, we had to ask for the missing items. The standard meat board was delivered as gluten free, which our friends accepted. The pizzas arrived and all four were incorrectly made. We received gluten free with dairy cheese and gluten containing bases with vegan cheese. We pointed out the error and had to insist that what we had ordered was not supplied. The waitress took the pizzas away, then returned, insisting our friends accept the gluten free based pizzas as there would be very minor difference to a normal base. We had to state a number of times that this was not acceptable. The desserts arrived. The waitress placed two small bowls of fruit, which contained some grapes and pear, on the table stating "here is your gluten free, dairy free, vegan and whatever else it is" dessert. We had the same fruit selection on the meat board earlier in the meal. We asked about any vegan cream, etc to add to the fruit, but was told they did have ice-cream but were out of stock. The standard dessert for our friends consisted of two extremely small cakes; one cake per person. This meal offering was $49 per person! Adding to our poor experience. At another table a waiter dropped a pizza down the back of a diner, with the pizza falling on to the pavers. The waiter returned with a tea towel for the customer to clean her clothing, but did not pick up the pizza off the pavers. After some time a diner took it on himself to pick up the pieces of pizza off the pavers and placed it on a plate. When finally a waiter returned the diner informed the waiter that he had in fact picked up the pizza. When we went to pay for our meal the staff member behind the counter had no idea how to process the payment using the gift vouchers as part payment; he had to ask another staff member for assistance. We will not be returning to this...

Travelled to Barrister’s Block today for my birthday. The tasting experience was lovely- Michael was friendly, welcoming and knew his wines. When a large party entered the tasting room, he professionally managed their rowdy behaviours. This was much appreciated as my mum is hearing impaired and was finding the noise difficult to manage with her hearing aids. The whites were okay, with the Chardonnay surprising us as this is not a tasting we would have picked.

Their stand for us was definitely “The Bully” Shiraz, 2019. Worth every drop. Michael our sommelier was knowledgeable and also listened to us, and adjusted the tasting to our preferred palate. Michael also assisted us with different purchasing options to ship wines interstate. Possibly the best kept secret in Adelaide is their 2022 Pinot Noir- smells like jersey caramel and is even more delicious, would pair beautifully with soft cheese, figs and honey. Their Cabernet Sauvignon, 2019 was also delicious, putting other wineries well-known for their cab-savs to shame, being in a league of its own.

The grounds also sparked the interests of my 4 year old and 19 month old, with enough room to roam, explore and enjoy the animals.

The menu was somewhat limited, however, having small children, we appreciated the intimate shearing shed atmosphere and cozy fire; reminiscent of my husband and my wedding in a 1937 converted shearing shed! The kids meals were fabulous, with REAL chicken and no extra fluff. We, as a family anticipated liking the lamb pizza the best and were shocked to learn our favourite was the truffle oil and mushroom pizza- delicious! The balance of truffle was perfect, there was no lingering earthy taste. After being so impressed by “The Bully” Shiraz, this was the table wine we paired with our lunch. We also appreciated the ‘rock and a hard place’ table waters, one of the better mineral waters (sparkling and still) on the market. If you’re a sparkling water drinker, you’ll appreciate there are differences in different brands!

Overall, a wonderful day out, a memorable birthday and great hospitality. A special thank you to Michael who also ensured my sister was able to ship her wines back to the ACT. My mum, sister and myself have certainly added some beautiful wines to our collections- we will without doubt be...

We attended a Father's Day lunch here, and unfortunately we all left feeling a bit disappointed.

The good: The atmosphere was lovely, and the grounds are beautiful. The dining area was lovely, and the live music was a sweet touch. We enjoyed listening to the saxophonist and singer. The sandpit and few lawn games outside, plus animals to look at, were great for the kids.

The bad: The service could have been better. I feel as though we were forgotten, receiving our mains later than others around us who arrived later than we did. We had to follow up on the children's meals, and we didn't receive them until well after the mains came out, by which point the children were grumpy and hungry, understandably. Only received one of the kids drinks instead of two.

The food was nice, but not great, especially given the price we paid for it. The potatoes were lukewarm at best, the "bbq sticky ribs" were a let down because they weren't as described- sticky. No sauce with them, which you would expect from the name. The dessert, brownies with spray-can cream on top, were burnt around the edges and in those spots were rock hard.

I felt like it was a bit of a disorganised jumble. I understand that it was a very busy luncheon setting, with many patrons, but the system maybe needs to be better in order to cater for that.

For the price we paid, I thought it would have been better and more organised, with better quality food.

I'm sure others will have had a better experience than us, and hopefully this is not the common for this beautiful establishment, but unfortunately this was...